Mercury turbine condenser arrangement



NOV. 5, 1935. R B|GG$ 2,020,097

MERCURY. TURBINE CONDENSER ARRANGEMENT Filed Aug. 30, 1934 Figl. I

Fig.2.

Inventor: Leon ar'cl R. iggs,

H rlAt torne g.

Patented Nov;- 5, 1935 f UNITED STATES mount comma]:

. ARRANGEMENT Leonard R. Biggs, N. Y., assignor to General New York Electric Company,

a corporation of Application August :0, 19:4, is. war:

4 Claims. (01. arr-as) The present invention relates to mercury turbine condenser arrangements, more specifically to the kind of arrangements in which the cooling fluid, such as water, is evaporated by the 5 heat transferred thereto from the condensing mercury vapor.

The object of my invention is toprovide an improved construction and arrangement of mercury turbine condenser arrangements whereby l mercury vapor is efl'ectively condensed and the heat content or the non-conden'sable gases such as air is reclaimed. j e

For a consideration or what Ibelieve to be novel and my invention, attention is directed to.

lo the following description and the claims appended thereto in connection with the accompanying drawing.

. Inthe drawing,1ig;lisanendviewpartlyin section of a mercury turbine condenser arrange- 20 ment embodying my invention, and-Fig. 2 is a side view of Fig. 1 partly in section.

The arrangement comprises a, mercury tur-' bine Ill, in the present instance shown as being of the double flow type. Mercury vapor is con-' 25- ducted to the turbine through an inlet conduit II and discharged from. the turbine through exhaust conduits l2 and I3, which latter are con- .nected'to an outer casing or shell I or a con-' densen. The condenser in accordance with my 80 invention is disposed below themercury turbine,

andflthe aforementioned outer shell I4 is shaped so that the exhaust vapor or the turbine flows through the shell in downward direction at substantially constant velocity. V 35 ,Aswillbereadilyseeni'romFig. 1,thehoriaontal cross-section of the space defined by the outershell decreases gradually in downward di .rection. The rate of d to acertainextent depends upon the cooling arrangement dis- 40 posed within the shell ll. Said cooling arrangement in accordance with my invention comprises a circulation type boiler. The boiler has three lower headers, an intermediate header 'and outer headers Ii and I! connected to the 45 intermediate header I 5. The boiler also includes upper headers or drums I l and I3 con-, nected to'the lower headers by up-tubes and down-tubes 2|. The drums l8 and I! are connected by a pressure equalizing conduit 22 and 50 each drum has a discharge conduit 23 and 2l pr'ojecting through the. outer shell and united therewith by welds 25. During operation, a cooling medium or, from another viewpoint, a fluid to be evaporated, in the present instance water,

55 is conducted to the intermediate lower header li by a conduit 26 having two branch portions 21 and 28. The water flows from the inter- -mediate header l5 partly through up -tubes 20 into the upper headers or drums l8 and I9, and

partly through the outer headers 16 and f1 and 8' other up-tubes 20 to said drums l8 and I9. During this upward flow, the fluid is heated and partly evaporated, the vapor being discharged from the drums through the conduits 23 and '24 I respectively, whereas the liquid is recirculated l0 through the dowmtubes 2|, which latter, as indicated in the drawing, have a considerably larger cross-section than the up-tubes 20. The provision or a circulation type boiler effects rapid circulation of cooling medium and accordingly l8 eifective condensation of mercury and vapor as ,well as efiective evaporation of water All the high pressure parts or the boiler with the exception of the discharge conduits 23 and 24v are totally enclosed .in the outer shell of the-cbn- 2D denser.- This I consider an important feature of my invention because it eliminates excessive non-uniform stresses oi. diflerent parts of the condenser. In my arrangement ail parts are uniformly heated and relative expansion between 25 various parts thereby is reduced to a minimum.

In the lower side portions of the inner shell,

that is, .in the coolest region or the condensing space, l -provide means for extracting non-condensables, in the present instance shown as two tubular members 29 and 30. Each of these members is connected to an auxiliary condenser 3| and 32 respectively. Said auxiliary condensers comprise an outershell 33 forming upper headers and 35 and being provided with a dividing 35 wall 36. The headers and 35 are connected by cooling tubes 31. The headers. of the auxiliary condensers are connected to the branched conduits 21 and 28 respectively,' whereas the headers flare connected 'to inlet-conduits 38 40 ior conducting cooling medium, in the present instance water, to the auxiliary condenser. The extraction conduits 29 and 30 for removing non-' condensables from the main condenser are connected to the outer casings 33. The casing33 in addition hasa discharge conduit 39 fornon-condensables and a discharge conduit 40 ,for mercury liquid separated from the non-condensables. The conduits 40 of the twofauxiliary condensers are connected to a mercury discharge conduit ll of the shell I l of the main condenser. During operation, cooling medium, in the present instance water, is conducted through the inlet conduits u the auxiliary condenser, whence it flows from the header 35 through the cooling tubes 31 into the header 3, to be discharged through the branched conduits 21 and 28 respectively and the conduit 26 to the lower intermediate header l5 of the boiler. With this arrangement the heat content of the non-condensables and the vapor'discharged therewith into the auxiliary condenser or condensers is recovered. The

suction inlet of a pump, not shown, for removingv non-condensables. In a preferred embodiment, as shown in Fig.1, I provide two auxiliary condensers, one on each side of the main condenser which has the distinct advantage that one of the auxiliary condensers may be repaired during operation of the turbine and in addition provides for a more uniform flow of vapor in the-main condenser.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. A condenser having an outer shell arranged for connection to a turbine exhaust conduit and shapedto cause the vapor exhausted from such turbine-to flow at substantially constant velocity from the upper towards the lower portion of the condenser space, a circulation type boiler totally enclosed in and substantially independent of expansion of said shell, said boiler comprising upper and lower headers connected by up-tubesj and down-tubes, and means for conducting 0001-..- ing fluid to the lower header and discharging evaporated fluid from the upper header.

2. A mercury condenser having an outer shell arranged for connection to a turbine exhaust conto the boiler. duit and shaped to cause the vapor exhausted r from such turbine to iiow at substantially constant velocity from the upper towards the lower portion of the condenser space, a circulation type boiler totally enclosed .by said shell and com.- prising upper and lower headers connected by 5 up-tubes and down-tubes, and means for removing non-condensables from the condenser and reclaiming heat energy from the non-condensables comprising an extraction conduit for noncondensables disposednear the coolest region in 10 the condenser space,'an auxiliary condenser connected to the extraction conduit and means for conducting cooling medium through the auxiliary condenser to said lower header to recover the-heat content of the non-condensables. 16 3. A mercury condenser having an outer shell arranged for connection to a turbine exhaust conduit and including a circulation type boiler totally enclosed within the outer shell, means for removing non-condensables from the condenser 20 space comprising extraction conduits disposed near the coolest regions of said space; two inde- -pendent auxiliary condensers connected to-the extraction conduits, means for conducting cooling medium through the auxiliary condensers to 25 the boiler, and means for separately discharging non-condensables and mercury liquid from the auxiliary condensers.

4. In a mercury condenser arrangement, the combination of an outer shell having an opening for receiving mercury vapor, a circulation type steam boiler comprising upper and lower headers connected by up-tubes and down-tubes, the boiler being totally enclosed within the shell, means for conducting make-up water to a lower header oLthe boiler; means for removing noncondensables from the condenser space, and

.means for reclaiming heat energy from the removed'non-condensables comprising the aforementioned means for conducting make-'up water LEONARD R. 31668. 

